0:00:57 > 0:01:01I'm flying into this majestic world of rock and ice in a military helicopter.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05Why military? Because this jagged valley is on the border
0:01:05 > 0:01:09between two of the Himalayas' most quarrelsome neighbours, India and Pakistan.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14With supreme irony, they call this place Concordia.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24It's a beautiful but harsh land which you enter at your peril.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26Oops! See what I mean?
0:01:32 > 0:01:36I'm at 14,500 feet in the heart of the Karakorum Mountains,
0:01:36 > 0:01:41and if anywhere deserves to be called the Hall of the Mountain Kings, this is it.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46Clustered around me are 10 of the world's 30 highest peaks,
0:01:46 > 0:01:51dominated by K2, the second-highest mountain in the world.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56It's known as the killer mountain, the savage mountain, and it's a much harder climb than Everest.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01But it's not just natural splendour here - there's human drama as well.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Over there to the east, the Indian and Pakistan armies face each other
0:02:05 > 0:02:10in a high altitude stand-off in these ice-bound conditions.
0:02:21 > 0:02:27It's scarcely believable that two oxygen-starved armies eyeball one another down there
0:02:27 > 0:02:30with only a UN line of control to keep them apart.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39What this means for me is that I can't cross from Pakistan to India through the mountains.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44Instead, I must make a detour to the official crossing point on the border, near the city of Lahore.
0:02:47 > 0:02:54Lahore is an often beautiful, always busy city, proud of its military and literary traditions.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59You may not think so from its location, but this is one of the most important objects in Lahore -
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Zam-Zammah, the great cannon, or the fire-breathing dragon,
0:03:02 > 0:03:06was first fired in anger about 250 years ago,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09and they say that who holds the cannon holds the Punjab,
0:03:09 > 0:03:16which may account for why it appears as the first sentence of the first chapter of Rudyard Kipling's Kim.
0:03:16 > 0:03:22"He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam-Zammah."
0:03:22 > 0:03:26This is the gun that Rudyard Kipling's Kim sat astride.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Oh, it's bloody hot this afternoon, I tell you.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35The Mughals, who came from Central Asia 600 years ago,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38left an elegant mark on Lahore.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41The Shalimar Gardens, created by the man who built the Taj Mahal.
0:03:41 > 0:03:46The Badshahi Mosque, whose courtyard can hold 60,000 worshippers.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51And in Lahore Fort, the exquisite Palace of Mirrors.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56They say it was here that Emperor Akbar caught his favourite courtesan
0:03:56 > 0:03:59exchanging a glance with his son.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04True to the Mughal image of good taste and bad temper,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06he had her walled up - alive.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15Our penultimate day in Pakistan, and I'm looking across the border at India.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22Here at a place called Wagah, the old military ceremony of lowering the flag
0:04:22 > 0:04:24has been turned into entertainment.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33The partition of India in 1947 was traumatic.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38Nearly a million were killed in sectarian fury as the two new nations were born.
0:04:40 > 0:04:46Nearly 60 years later, the old aggression has been channelled into a largely good-natured ritual.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55HE PLAYS HORN
0:04:58 > 0:05:03Crowds can root for their country, whilst guardsmen, using their bodies rather than weapons,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06lay on a display of carefully-choreographed contempt.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10CROWD CHANTS AND CHEERS
0:05:10 > 0:05:12This is chauvinism at its most camp.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54The Pakistan Rangers put on a masterly demonstration
0:05:54 > 0:05:58of how angry you can get without hitting anyone.
0:06:14 > 0:06:20As the moment of flag lowering grows closer, the crowd's excitement grows more vocal.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23CHANTS AND JEERS
0:06:27 > 0:06:32National passions are further inflamed by a display of precision nastiness
0:06:32 > 0:06:35in which thumbs are used to terrifying effect.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40CROWD CHEERS LOUDLY
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Now the moment they've all been waiting for.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13The guards, fans sprouting from their turbans like raised hackles,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16measure out the lengths of rope.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22And they must get it absolutely spot-on,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25so that the tricolour of secular India
0:07:25 > 0:07:30and the crescent moon of Muslim Pakistan descend at exactly the same time.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Despite the show of bellicosity, this is in fact a combined operation,
0:08:01 > 0:08:05with both sides working together to make it run like clockwork.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09It ends with a flourish, a quadrille of stamping soldiers,
0:08:09 > 0:08:14the briefest of handshakes. The border between India and Pakistan is sealed.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Job done.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Next morning, the crowds of spectators are gone,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32to be replaced by a crowd of porters - 22 in fact,
0:08:32 > 0:08:37who earn a day's wages carrying our 40-odd pieces of equipment up to the border.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42Here, they're received by 22 equally fortunate Indian porters.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47A beady-eyed Pakistan Ranger
0:08:47 > 0:08:52makes sure that there is no illegal emigration across the white border line.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01So we leave one country where no elected government has ever completed its term
0:09:01 > 0:09:04and enter another where nearly a billion use the ballot box.
0:09:09 > 0:09:14The Indian way of doing things is immediately apparent. This man must be telepathic.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16He knows what's on my mind.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19That was your question? Beer, oh...! It's Thunderbolt.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22That's what you need after...
0:09:22 > 0:09:26After four weeks of abstinence,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30because you're not allowed to drink in public in Pakistan,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33so they obviously know that as soon as you get across the border,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37this is what you might need. But I feel so healthy,
0:09:37 > 0:09:42I feel fit, I feel younger, better... I don't know what to do with this.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Ooh!
0:09:50 > 0:09:56Buoyed up by the beer and the relief that always comes from successfully crossing a frontier,
0:09:56 > 0:10:01I hop into a local minibus which takes me the ten miles or so to the first Indian city.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09Neither Muslim nor Hindu, Amritsar is a Sikh town.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13I know a bit about Sikhs.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16The turbans and the hair that should never be cut.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20I know their reputation as fierce warriors and shrewd businessmen.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25But to learn more, I make for Amritsar's most holy site, the Golden Temple.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Thank you. This is for going in to the temple?
0:10:29 > 0:10:32I need one of these? What is it?
0:10:32 > 0:10:37- ANSWER INDECIPHERABLE - Yeah, what is it?
0:10:37 > 0:10:40A scarf or...a hat?
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Ten rupees, OK. So how do I wear it?
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Can you show me? Ah.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55I see, it's my own sort of...
0:10:56 > 0:10:59..sort of semi-turban.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Thank you very much, thank you.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Though they seem quite a relaxed and worldly people,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10the Sikhs do demand a strict dress code for the temple.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15Apart from covering my head, I must leave my shoes and socks behind.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19I'm also required to wash my hands, divest myself of all tobacco,
0:11:19 > 0:11:24intoxicants and narcotics and enter via a cleansing pool.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32There are an estimated 20 million Sikhs in India, 2% of the population.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37They believe in one god for all, rich or poor, with no human hierarchies or priesthoods,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40idols or icons coming in between.
0:11:42 > 0:11:47It sounds commendably modest, but when I first see the gold-sheathed Haramandir,
0:11:47 > 0:11:51their holy of holies, "modest" is not the word that comes to mind.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00The Golden Temple itself, covered in 500kg of gold,
0:12:00 > 0:12:04is only a small part of an enormous complex.
0:12:10 > 0:12:16In the kitchens, volunteers take turns to prepare a simple free meal for anyone who wants it.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Chapatti, dhal, pickle and water,
0:12:21 > 0:12:2424 hours a day, 7 days a week.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31This is the chapatti production line.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36These are the dhal vats.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Every day, in sweatshop conditions,
0:12:39 > 0:12:44- thousands of kilos of lentil curry are stirred in titanic cauldrons.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48I sample the result with a young Sikh, Onkar Singh.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53So this the... I mean, essentially they give this... A basic meal,
0:12:53 > 0:12:58- to whoever turns up.- Yes. - Within reason.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02- But I mean it's a huge place, it must be a huge operation.- Yes.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05How many meals do they provide a day?
0:13:05 > 0:13:11Basically, this cuisine, this kitchen is open 24 hours to everybody.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16- Right.- And every day, 40,000 to 50,000 people, they come here and have food.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18What sort of people are they?
0:13:18 > 0:13:21Are they poor people who can't get food anywhere else,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25or people like us, who are making a television documentary?
0:13:25 > 0:13:30Well, this is a basic thing of every Sikh temple. I mean essential for every Sikh temple.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33You see, everybody has to come first in the kitchen.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37The third Guru who started this tradition, Guru Amar Das,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41he said, "If you want to meet me, first go to the kitchen."
0:13:41 > 0:13:46Why he said that because, in this way, if anybody has ego or pride,
0:13:46 > 0:13:51- so here everybody learns the lesson of equality.- Yes, right.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55- That's what it's about.- No matter which class, which religion...
0:13:55 > 0:14:00So it's probably more important for someone who is rich and can afford the food
0:14:00 > 0:14:04- to come along and eat with everybody else.- Yes.- I see, that's the idea.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09- Yes, even the king, Akbar, he came here and he had to sit equally with everybody.- Yes.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14So the answer of your question is, no matter if one is poor or rich,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18come here and have food and the bless of God.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20This is the essence of the kitchen.
0:14:20 > 0:14:21Yeah, that's great!
0:14:21 > 0:14:26And on Saturday and Sunday, there are limitless people.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30I mean, about 100,000 people, they come here.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32- 100,000 come here?!- Yes, 100,000 -
0:14:32 > 0:14:37both floors, the ground floor and first floor, are busy with devotees,
0:14:37 > 0:14:42and then they start with the pavements, they sit there and start eating.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54This is all voluntary work, and the washing-up may be done by doctors, lawyers,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58bricklayers, rickshaw drivers, or anyone who enjoys making a noise!
0:15:15 > 0:15:20This causeway leads to the Haramandir, the most holy part of the temple.
0:15:20 > 0:15:27Crowds wait in line to pay their respects to the Guru Granth, the holy book of the Sikh religion.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31SIKH MUSIC IS PLAYED
0:15:33 > 0:15:36In the holy book are the sacred ragas written by Guru Nanak,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39who founded Sikhism in the 17th century.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43These are performed by the musicians and singers in the holy of holies.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46RAGAS ARE PLAYED
0:15:50 > 0:15:54They ring round the temple non-stop for 16 hours a day.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59It takes two-and-a-half days to chant the whole book, then it starts all over again.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27And if you want to stay the night, there's a hotel out the back.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31- Oops...- Lots of peoples. - Really busy, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34How many people can they take here?
0:16:35 > 0:16:39Well, about 25,000 people can stay here.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44- At one time?!- At one time, yes, 25,000 people. Isn't it...?
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Gigantic, yes, yes.
0:16:49 > 0:16:50Ah, thank you.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Oh, bathroom, yes, lovely.
0:16:55 > 0:16:56Yeah.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Very efficient.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12A shower for short people!
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Everything you need. Jacuzzi?
0:17:18 > 0:17:23- INDECIPHERABLE REPLY - Oh, it's all right, I'll make my own. Thank you!
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Very nice. That's extremely palatial. Thank you very much.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29OK.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Well, that's not bad.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Ooh!
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Divans, but, I mean, where else in the world could you get...
0:17:46 > 0:17:51..a bathroom and two enormous king-sized beds for 65p a night?!
0:18:08 > 0:18:12It's ten o'clock, and something is stirring in the Golden Temple,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16as the devotional day draws to a climax.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19MUSIC AND CHANTING
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Followed by a man whose job it is to keep the air clean above it,
0:18:28 > 0:18:34the Holy Book is borne out of the Haramandir on a pillow and laid on a palanquin.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42The book is regarded as the 11th and last Guru of Sikhism,
0:18:42 > 0:18:47and it, or rather he, will be taken across the causeway and quite literally, put to bed.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16The doors are shut and fastened.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26The book is laid on the bed and covered up until, at 2.30 tomorrow morning,
0:19:26 > 0:19:31it will be woken up to start another day at the Golden Temple.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43This is Kalka Station, starting point for the Himalayan Queen,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47a train taking me up to the hill town of Shimla, previously known as Simla.
0:19:47 > 0:19:52It's the start of school holidays, and the train is packed.
0:19:52 > 0:19:59The Himalayan Queen will take me only 57 miles, but we will climb 7,000 feet.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03With me on the journey is local historian Raaja Bhasin,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07which is just as well, as I'm having trouble finding my seat.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10There we are.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12I think that's me,
0:20:12 > 0:20:17unless there's another Michael P. And there you are, Raaja Bhasin, Bhasin, yeah.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31There's no dining car, but there is home cooking, courtesy of a generous fellow passenger.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Oh, thank you very much. Well, that's lovely.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36- What is this?- This is puri.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40- Puri. That's right. Puri and...? - Made out of wheat flour.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45- Wheat flour. Yes, oh! - And these are potatoes. - Oh, lovely!- With the Indian spices.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48With Indian spices, lovely. This is your picnic for the family, is it?
0:20:48 > 0:20:52- Yeah, this is my picnic. Holiday time, with my family.- Lovely.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55And why did you... why did you choose to go to Simla?
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Because it is nearby.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00- Where are you from?- I am from Delhi.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03Did you have to start very early today?
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Yeah. Four o'clock I wake up in the morning, I cooked food.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11- Six o'clock we left.- This at four o'clock?- Yeah, I cooked this. - Ah, that's... Well, that's...
0:21:11 > 0:21:16At six o'clock we left our residence and at 7.40 we boarded the train.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25- Is Delhi hard work? Is it a very high-pressure city? - Yeah, very much pressure.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29- What do you do?- I am working with the government, Ministry of Defence.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Oh, right. Secret work?
0:21:34 > 0:21:38- Yes, well, buying British weapons, we hope!- Oh, no!
0:21:42 > 0:21:46When the British ruled India, Simla was their summer headquarters.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49Until the railway was built 100 years ago,
0:21:49 > 0:21:54everything they needed would have been carried up here by horse or donkey.
0:21:54 > 0:22:00But some of it, some of the stations and indeed all the actual bridges and tunnels,
0:22:00 > 0:22:04look very similar to the way they did when it was opened?
0:22:04 > 0:22:09- That's true, that's right. - They've stood the test of time. - Very well, like most of the stone.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14They have been built by raw stone basing - no mortar.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18The bridges are old-fashioned Roman aqueducts.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20They're still functioning perfectly.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24In actual terms of construction, nothing has really altered.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28There are 103 tunnels on the line,
0:22:28 > 0:22:33one of them built by the ill-fated Colonel Barog, who had it dug from both ends.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36When they didn't meet in the middle, he shot himself.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51You are a school, a school party, going to Simla?
0:22:51 > 0:22:53- Here for a trip...- Here?
0:22:53 > 0:22:57Oh, right, so they're leaving the train now.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00- How long are they... A week here, or something?- For four days.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04- Four days... And you are their teacher?- Yes.- Good luck!
0:23:04 > 0:23:06Thank you, thank you very much.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09- Had a nice time? - Yes, we've had a very nice time!
0:23:09 > 0:23:12The delicacies at the station buffet
0:23:12 > 0:23:15seemed a good way of repaying my friend for her hospitality.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18No!
0:23:18 > 0:23:20Of course, she wouldn't have it.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25How much are they?
0:23:28 > 0:23:30Two, two for ten.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Fortunately, I know someone who will eat anything!
0:23:35 > 0:23:38I only got two, I'm afraid!
0:23:39 > 0:23:41And I'm going to eat both of them!
0:23:41 > 0:23:43There you are, go on...
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Do you like it with tomato?
0:23:45 > 0:23:48Dip it in the tomato.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51You're getting quite a gourmet in your old age!
0:23:54 > 0:23:59We climb higher, pulling out of the dense jungle and running into alpine woodland.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08I press Raaja to explain some of the more dubious legends of the railway.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11How about the kissing tunnel, this story I heard?
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Yes. It is over a kilometre long.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19To go through the tunnel it takes about four minutes -
0:24:19 > 0:24:21time enough to snatch a kiss.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Yeah, absolutely.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29That's a very sort of... Jane Austen-ish kiss, really, four minutes.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34- Nowadays they could have a family by then.- Absolutely!- Anyway, sorry.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36So tell me...
0:24:36 > 0:24:39That was why it's called the kissing tunnel? Ah, yeah.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44So you figured out who was sitting where and what you had to do with whom,
0:24:44 > 0:24:46and the moment the lights...
0:24:46 > 0:24:50- When you enter the tunnel, it's an old steam engine...- Oh, stop it!
0:24:50 > 0:24:53Oh, get off me! Ooh, Raaja, please! Oh, ho!
0:24:53 > 0:24:55LAUGHTER
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Raaja, I didn't know you cared!
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Oh, well!
0:25:03 > 0:25:08Simla, the hill station, is now Shimla, the bustling provincial capital.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12But the imperial legacy remains, and the Viceroy's palace -
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Victorian self-confidence set in stone - still dominates the town.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20One fifth of humanity was ruled from that room up there.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24- One fifth of humanity? As much as that? The British Empire?- Yes.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28- And that was the Viceroy's office? - Yeah.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31For eight months of the year it was Simla,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35which was officially the summer capital, but was the real capital.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39For eight months of the year, the government was stationed at Simla,
0:25:39 > 0:25:44right from about March, April, to October, November.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Someone like Gandhi, who's a modest man in style,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51what would he have felt, coming to a place like this?
0:25:51 > 0:25:56He disliked it, and the other thing was that while everybody else came in rickshaws,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00human-pulled rickshaws, two men pulling and two men pushing,
0:26:00 > 0:26:05Gandhi invariably walked to the place, where Nehru invariably used a horse.
0:26:14 > 0:26:20Despite 60 years of independence, Shimla still feels like an Indian Tunbridge Wells.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25- So where's this? This is the big... - This is the ridge.
0:26:25 > 0:26:31This is the big ridge, the town's largest open space.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34And we're walking along a natural watershed now, Michael.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38The flow from that side on our right goes down to the Bay of Bengal,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41- and from the left to the Arabian Sea. - Extraordinary.
0:26:41 > 0:26:47Is that partly why they chose this spot? Dividing India, you know?
0:26:47 > 0:26:50- Yes, or sitting astride it.- Yes, yes.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54Whatever way you look, it's an imposition, isn't it?
0:26:55 > 0:27:00The old Gaiety Theatre survives, saved from retirement by the Indian army,
0:27:00 > 0:27:04who use it as a club and put on the occasional production.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09We're on stage, and the production...
0:27:09 > 0:27:12What a jewel of a theatre, isn't it?
0:27:12 > 0:27:15It's beautiful, yeah.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18Someone said that Shimla was a bit like Cheltenham in India,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21and I can see what they mean.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24- Yes - locking India outside the door. - Yeah.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28What sort of names would have been on this stage? Any famous names?
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Oh, yes, and not necessarily connected with theatre.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36- There's Baden-Powell.- Baden-Powell? What, the founder of the Scouts?
0:27:36 > 0:27:38- Yes.- Never thought he was a thesp.
0:27:38 > 0:27:44He did this play here before he went off to the Boer War. And Kipling.
0:27:44 > 0:27:50And what sort of plays used to be... They played here, and who would have supplied the cast?
0:27:50 > 0:27:55Well, they were mostly drawing-room comedies, the occasional musical,
0:27:55 > 0:28:02and in them would be, I think, government officers who really spend most of their time acting.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07- I know there's a play on tonight. - Yes.- Now what time does it start? - 6.30.- OK.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11- Time to go.- We'd better go. I'm sure they'd prefer to see us, but still!
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Tonight's play is an early work by Michael Frayn.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17The audience and actors are all army.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Well, before we start the play, we've got a surprise for you.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24May I present to you, Mr Michael Palin!
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Please come forward, Mr Michael Palin.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
0:28:31 > 0:28:37- APPLAUSE - Thank you. If I might just crave your indulgence for a few moments.
0:28:37 > 0:28:43My name is Michael Palin and I'm with the BBC filming a journey through the Himalayas.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47A six-part series. And of course we couldn't come to the Himalayas
0:28:47 > 0:28:50without coming to India, or India without coming to Shimla,
0:28:50 > 0:28:55or Shimla without coming to this jewel of a theatre, the Gaiety.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58And I'm absolutely delighted to be here on the stage of a theatre
0:28:58 > 0:29:03that's be the envy of many towns. I hope you enjoy the production.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07I know many of you are army people, so... By the right, quick laugh!
0:29:07 > 0:29:11- Thank you! - APPLAUSE AND LAUGHTER
0:29:15 > 0:29:20I must say, there's a certain irony in coming 8,000 miles to India
0:29:20 > 0:29:23to see a suburban comedy set in Surrey.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31Is there anything that I can do?
0:29:31 > 0:29:35No! Just getting the place straight!
0:29:35 > 0:29:38Er...why don't you...
0:29:38 > 0:29:43go back into the kitchen and relax?
0:29:43 > 0:29:47It's awfully lonely in the kitchen. There's no-one to talk to.
0:29:47 > 0:29:52The actors on stage work closely with their fellow actors offstage.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57No, Barney, it's no good looking at me like that. No.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59I'm not amused.
0:29:59 > 0:30:05You just stay there, and don't you come out until I tell you. All right?
0:30:05 > 0:30:07SPEECH DROWNED BY AUDIENCE
0:30:12 > 0:30:14When the curtain finally comes down,
0:30:14 > 0:30:17it's no surprise that the biggest round of the evening
0:30:17 > 0:30:21is reserved for Mrs Vijaylakshmi Sood, the prompter.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23APPLAUSE
0:30:23 > 0:30:28- Vijaylakshmi Sood. - LOUDER APPLAUSE
0:30:36 > 0:30:40And our special guest, Mr Michael Plain.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43LOUD APPLAUSE
0:30:48 > 0:30:53Next morning, Michael Plain and driver head north to an altogether less happy place.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00A battleground since independence and still one of the world's flashpoints, Kashmir.
0:31:02 > 0:31:0560,000 have died in fighting over the last 15 years.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09A bomb on the road north has just killed 33 people.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13The root cause goes back 60 years.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19At partition in 1947, Kashmir was a princely state,
0:31:19 > 0:31:23free to choose if it wanted to stay in India, or join Pakistan.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25The Maharajah chose India.
0:31:25 > 0:31:30The trouble is that Kashmir was 80% Muslim.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36In Kashmir, heaven and hell come pretty close.
0:31:36 > 0:31:42Swanning about like Cleopatra in a barge on Dal Lake, I feel completely at peace.
0:31:42 > 0:31:49But in the city of Srinagar, on the shores of the lake, a nasty war slowly grinds on.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58The British loved the lake, but weren't allowed to own land near it,
0:31:58 > 0:32:02so instead they built houseboats like manor houses.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15They're mostly run as hotels now, and I shall be staying with Mr Ghulam Butt,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19proprietor of Clermont Houseboats, once the most sought-after on the lake.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22Mr Butt... You must be Mr Butt.
0:32:22 > 0:32:27- So happy to see you.- Well, it's nice to be here. You've obviously had a few people before me.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30Yes, sir, they've all stayed here, even George Harrison.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33George Harrison! My dear friend George, yes.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36He was here and Mr Ravi Shankar and Jagger...
0:32:36 > 0:32:41- What year was he here?- That was 1966.- 1966, gosh.- He was here, yes.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45And one evening we have, they had a big party, musician party.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49- And that's Joan Fontaine.- Yes.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53- One of the famous American movie stars, and...- Nelson Rockefeller!
0:32:53 > 0:32:55The last summer he was here...
0:32:55 > 0:33:01Mr Butt's hall of fame is impressive. No less than 14 ambassadors have stayed here.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04But the names stop in the 1980s,
0:33:04 > 0:33:07and the faces on his wall are from another, more confident era.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11This is one of the astronauts who went on the moon, the first man.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15- Neil Armstrong.- Oh, Neil Armstrong. Is that Neil Armstrong?
0:33:15 > 0:33:19- Yes, sir, that Neil Armstrong. He was here. And...- Wow!
0:33:19 > 0:33:22And when they come here, they come here for...peace and quiet?
0:33:22 > 0:33:26Yes, and for holidaying on the houseboat and enjoying the lake,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29- enjoying my home, enjoying my garden...- Oh, good, I want to see it.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32You'll see, I'll show you. Some time, when you have time,
0:33:32 > 0:33:36I'll show you the guest books, what remarks they put in my guest books.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Have you still got people coming now, despite the troubles?
0:33:40 > 0:33:46Yes. Mostly journalists, because since 1990, you know all about...
0:33:46 > 0:33:48I know there's been troubles.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52The troubles we have, since 1990, because of the problems.
0:33:52 > 0:33:59Sadly, the houseboat on which Ravi Shankar taught George Harrison the sitar is now half-submerged,
0:33:59 > 0:34:02but despite the troubles, Mr Butt's eternal optimism
0:34:02 > 0:34:06- has kept the bulk of his business afloat.- Paradise on Earth.
0:34:10 > 0:34:15The houseboats have been started in 1880. I give little flower.
0:34:15 > 0:34:20- Oh, I say!- This is just by the way, affection.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25Greet you with some flowers and come into my houseboat.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27This is the houseboats at this end.
0:34:27 > 0:34:33Now we go in, and I show you the living room...
0:34:33 > 0:34:37Oh, it's a palace, isn't it? Fit for a queen.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39INDECIPHERABLE CONVERSATION
0:34:47 > 0:34:50That's lovely. Thanks. Bye.
0:35:08 > 0:35:13Pakistan and India have played for high stakes in Kashmir.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18When you look out over Dal Lake it's almost impossible to believe that in 2001,
0:35:18 > 0:35:24the threat of nuclear war brought a paradise like this to the brink of destruction.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55A full-scale conflict may have been avoided,
0:35:55 > 0:35:59but issues are still unresolved, and the fight for Kashmir goes on.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05Only a week before we arrived,
0:36:05 > 0:36:10Indian security forces used mortars to clear this hotel in Srinagar
0:36:10 > 0:36:14of what they suspected were two Pakistani-backed militants.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Casualties of war lie in the local cemetery
0:36:24 > 0:36:27and in many others like it throughout Kashmir.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31This is a Muslim graveyard, and they call their victims martyrs.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34Some fought the fight deliberately.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38Others, like the mother and child killed in crossfire at the hotel,
0:36:38 > 0:36:40were never given the choice.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52This feels like an occupied country.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59Tourism, once the lifeblood of Kashmir, has been hard hit.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15As governments warn against non-essential travel,
0:37:15 > 0:37:18international interest has all but dried up.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21WIND HOWLS
0:38:03 > 0:38:08An overnight downpour only adds to the air of melancholy that hangs over Srinagar,
0:38:08 > 0:38:11as I'm shown around by Farooq, a local businessman.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17Do you think the city is suffering quite a lot
0:38:17 > 0:38:21- from the problems with the violence and all that?- Very much, very much.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25- Still is, is it?- Last 14 years is very much. You see this outside.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28Oh, look at that, yeah.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32Srinagar has echoes of Belfast in the 1970s.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34It's a city scarred by siege,
0:38:34 > 0:38:36pockmarked by damage and neglect.
0:38:36 > 0:38:41A city waiting with increasing desperation for the nightmare to end
0:38:41 > 0:38:44and the symbols of hatred to disappear.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57Perched high in the Himalayan foothills near Dharamsala
0:38:57 > 0:38:59is the village of McLeodganj.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03It's a nondescript place,
0:39:03 > 0:39:07but backpackers and travellers from all over the world flock here.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21Alongside local poverty is a parallel economy,
0:39:21 > 0:39:24geared to the demands of well-heeled Westerners.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27And the reason for all this is religion.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30Neither Hindu, nor Muslim, but Buddhist.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38Ten years after the Chinese took over his country,
0:39:38 > 0:39:42the Dalai Lama, fearing death or imprisonment,
0:39:42 > 0:39:45- fled across the Himalaya from Tibet. - CHANTING
0:39:45 > 0:39:50India's Prime Minister Nehru risked Chinese wrath to offer him sanctuary.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56And this is where the leader of Tibetan Buddhism now lives,
0:39:56 > 0:39:58surrounded by faithful followers.
0:40:13 > 0:40:18These Indian hill villages have become known as Little Lhasa.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23In this monastery, prayer flags hang in their thousands above gold and white stupas.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27Ovens burning juniper and cedar make smoke trails up to the gods
0:40:27 > 0:40:31and prayer wheels send good thoughts spinning out into the world.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43Buddhism is an outgoing, inclusive religion
0:40:43 > 0:40:48and at the temple they seem only too happy to let me take part in a ceremony
0:40:48 > 0:40:50whose purpose is a complete mystery to me.
0:40:57 > 0:41:05On a count of three, I, like everyone else, throw into the air my handful of tsampa - roast barley flour.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11And, like everyone else, feel a lot better for it.
0:41:16 > 0:41:21Young Tibetans, like Thupten Tsewang, have never seen their ancestral homeland.
0:41:21 > 0:41:26Your parents had to leave Tibet, I assume, did they?
0:41:26 > 0:41:30Yes. They came to India around in the 1960s.
0:41:30 > 0:41:35During that time they were in a group, you know?
0:41:35 > 0:41:38Do you think you'll ever go to Tibet?
0:41:38 > 0:41:44No. I would like to go, really, but then it's really difficult at this moment.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47We have special procedures to follow.
0:41:47 > 0:41:52The unlikelihood of ever seeing Tibet doesn't seem to have dampened spirits here in Little Lhasa.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55It's beautiful work, isn't it?
0:41:55 > 0:41:59- This is our thangka painting studio. - Right.
0:41:59 > 0:42:05Everywhere you look, enormous energy is devoted to keeping the culture alive.
0:42:05 > 0:42:11In this workshop, they produced thangkas - decorated religious scrolls.
0:42:11 > 0:42:16They seem actually very young, most of the people who are working here.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19People here presumably would never have been to Tibet.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21How is it all organised?
0:42:21 > 0:42:25Are they under the guidance of people who are Tibetan?
0:42:25 > 0:42:27Yes, all of them are Tibetan.
0:42:27 > 0:42:32Yes, all of them Tibetans, and how we organise this,
0:42:32 > 0:42:36we have our master under whose guidance students can learn.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39Are they in great demand?
0:42:39 > 0:42:46Yes, I can say that, because we have a pile of orders. Like if you order a thangka now,
0:42:46 > 0:42:49you have to wait for two, or five or six years.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52- Five or six years to get one done? - Yes, it's all piled up.
0:42:54 > 0:43:00The Tibetan diaspora is a worldwide phenomenon, and the demand for images from America and Japan
0:43:00 > 0:43:03makes the work profitable as well as educational.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20The commitment is demanding.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23A metal sculpture apprenticeship takes 12 years.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37It's not just craftsmanship that's kept alive here.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42Children are taught Tibetan song and dance almost as soon as they can walk.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51Is this traditional Tibetan music?
0:43:51 > 0:43:53Yes, very traditional Tibetan music.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57The theme was started nine years back.
0:43:57 > 0:44:03The theme is to let small children know their own cultural songs in that sense,
0:44:03 > 0:44:09because we are losing it, because being influenced by Hindi songs, Bollywood songs...
0:44:09 > 0:44:12So there's a danger of them being forgotten.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15Being forgotten and the children didn't get acquainted.
0:44:15 > 0:44:21So to make them acquainted, such events have been organised. Today is a celebration of Gandhi.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24It's Gandhi's birthday.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27So the children enjoy doing the Tibetan music?
0:44:27 > 0:44:30They don't mind being weaned away from Bollywood?
0:44:30 > 0:44:35No, you can see their faces - excited I guess.
0:45:07 > 0:45:12Keeping world opinion on their side is very important to the Tibetans in exile.
0:45:12 > 0:45:18To this end, they offer all sorts of services, including this astrology centre, which, among other things,
0:45:18 > 0:45:23can tell you what you were in your previous life and what you'll become in the next.
0:45:27 > 0:45:34Having sent my birth details to the experts upstairs, I've come along today to hear the results.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38- Mr Palin, this way, please.- Ah.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42My astrologer's name is Phurbu Tsering.
0:45:42 > 0:45:48So this is my astrological chart which will show, among other things,
0:45:48 > 0:45:53what I will be reincarnated as and what I am reincarnated as, is that right?
0:45:53 > 0:45:56- Yes, yes.- Wow, this is...
0:45:56 > 0:45:58I'm shaking a little bit.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01Never known this information before. There's rather a lot of it.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05Oh, here we go, right...
0:46:07 > 0:46:10I see, yes.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13So the real stuff, that comes here. Oh...
0:46:13 > 0:46:16There's a lot.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19Oh, here we are.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23"You were likely to be an elephant in your previous life."
0:46:23 > 0:46:27Oh, that's... I've always been kind to elephants!
0:46:27 > 0:46:33Actually, an elephant charged me once, so I think he recognised me and wanted to say hello.
0:46:33 > 0:46:38But... "You're going to be born as a daughter of a rich family
0:46:38 > 0:46:40"in the West again."
0:46:40 > 0:46:44I don't know what to say to that, really. I mean, it's not too bad.
0:46:44 > 0:46:49Sometimes I suppose you have to give rather bad news to people, do you?
0:46:49 > 0:46:51In that case...
0:46:51 > 0:46:55This is all based on your date of birth,
0:46:55 > 0:46:58based on an individual's date of birth time.
0:46:58 > 0:47:03At that time his whole life is... looks like that, it's a map.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06He or she may be born again as some sort of...
0:47:06 > 0:47:12- bad life, or you know, bad birth, so in that case, you know, it doesn't mean that it's all fixed.- Oh, right.
0:47:12 > 0:47:18You can change it by yourself, through special approach, through special effort,
0:47:18 > 0:47:20through your own hard work.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23So if I was going to be born again as a...
0:47:23 > 0:47:28- as a sort of mosquito, there's still time for me to change?- Yes.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31It's all, you know, in your hands, in this life.
0:47:31 > 0:47:37You see, I'm really against all this. I don't believe in any predestine.
0:47:37 > 0:47:44I prefer to think that some exercise of free will can control the course of my life.
0:47:44 > 0:47:51That's how I was brought up. So it's interesting that what you're saying is that you can change your life,
0:47:51 > 0:47:53but I was an elephant.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56So I'll always remain having been an elephant, will I?
0:47:56 > 0:47:59I can't change that. I was an elephant.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02You were an elephant in your previous birth.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06Do you know what you were in a previous life?
0:48:06 > 0:48:09No, because I don't have my date of birth.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13Really? You don't know exactly when you were born?
0:48:13 > 0:48:17No, because my parents have all these records for us,
0:48:17 > 0:48:22so I don't have... When the Chinese invaded our country...
0:48:22 > 0:48:25So most of the youth of my age, we don't have...
0:48:25 > 0:48:31The records of your birth were destroyed, because your parents had to leave Tibet.
0:48:31 > 0:48:36If you believe this or not, I was even born on the roadside.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40Many of our age at that time were born on the roadside.
0:48:51 > 0:48:57The centrepiece of Little Lhasa and the head of the Tibetan government in exile
0:48:57 > 0:49:01is this son of peasant farmers, his holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama.
0:49:09 > 0:49:14At the age of two, this man who likes to call himself a simple monk,
0:49:14 > 0:49:19was proved by various tests to be the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23When he dies, he'll be reborn as the 15th Dalai Lama.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33Morning prayers are open to people from all over the world
0:49:33 > 0:49:37and the 68-year-old Dalai Lama seems genuinely pleased to see them,
0:49:37 > 0:49:40whilst men in grey suits provide discreet security.
0:49:51 > 0:49:55I've been granted a one-to-one audience with his holiness,
0:49:55 > 0:50:01but before that, he's agreed to meet 700 other people.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06In a smoothly organised operation, a line of pilgrims, well-wishers and fans
0:50:06 > 0:50:10is moved briskly up the driveway and past the balcony of his bungalow.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19In return for queuing patiently, they receive a handshake,
0:50:19 > 0:50:24direct eye contact with the great man and a sacred cord blessed by him.
0:50:42 > 0:50:46The Dalai Lama greets his Western admirers first.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49Then it's the turn of the Nepalese and Tibetans.
0:50:49 > 0:50:56Only, they get packets of herbal pills, blessed by his holiness, which will cure coughs and colds.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04If the international pilgrims seem almost blase,
0:51:04 > 0:51:09the Tibetans who stand in line are quite visibly awed by his presence.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18Next, he meets refugees from Tibet.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22To avoid reprisals if they go back, we film them from behind.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28Trying to put them at their ease, he asks about the journey.
0:51:28 > 0:51:33How did they bring their money across the border without being caught?
0:51:33 > 0:51:35Did they swallow it and throw it up later?
0:51:37 > 0:51:40He asks how many of them plan to go back.
0:51:40 > 0:51:46If he goes back, he says, it would never be to the old feudal way of doing things.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50Despite appearances, his message is modernise.
0:51:53 > 0:51:55Then all of a sudden it's our turn.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59Your holiness, thank you so much.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03Thank you for coming to talk to us.
0:52:03 > 0:52:06You're a busy man, aren't you?
0:52:08 > 0:52:13Your face, very familiar to me, because of BBC!
0:52:13 > 0:52:18Oh, really? Oh! Well, your face is very familiar to me!
0:52:18 > 0:52:21Do you watch the BBC, then?
0:52:22 > 0:52:25- Ah, practically every day.- Do you?
0:52:25 > 0:52:28Because I have more trust.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30Really?
0:52:30 > 0:52:38And mainly some beautiful documentaries, obviously, including your own...
0:52:38 > 0:52:40your visits to different places.
0:52:40 > 0:52:47And sometimes, sometimes I wonder, I wish to join with you, I could see many places.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50- Meet different people. - You know where we're going to next?
0:52:50 > 0:52:57Within a month, we'll be going to Tibet, your holiness. But I don't think you'll want to come with us.
0:53:00 > 0:53:05I was going to ask you something, because yesterday while I was here,
0:53:05 > 0:53:09I went to your astrological department and they made up a chart for me.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13And in my previous life I was an elephant.
0:53:13 > 0:53:19And in my next life, I'm going to be the daughter of a rich family in the West.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22Which do you think is the best?
0:53:22 > 0:53:24Of the two options?
0:53:24 > 0:53:31I wondered to myself, how does an elephant get to be a television presenter?
0:53:33 > 0:53:37Because I think elephant also has a lot of curiosity...
0:53:37 > 0:53:40to know...
0:53:40 > 0:53:42go like that!
0:53:42 > 0:53:47The trouble is, an elephant never forgets and I forget far too much.
0:53:47 > 0:53:54But as we're going to Tibet, as I say, in a month, which is very exciting,
0:53:54 > 0:53:59what sort of situation do you think we'll encounter there?
0:53:59 > 0:54:05What is Tibet like at the moment? I hear there's a revival of interest in Buddhism.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08Will we see this and will it be the real thing?
0:54:11 > 0:54:17Now, since you are going there, so you yourself must find out what's the true situation.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24Of course, although I am here,
0:54:24 > 0:54:26outside Tibet,
0:54:26 > 0:54:28not inside Tibet,
0:54:28 > 0:54:30but as a Tibetan,
0:54:30 > 0:54:34now I want to extend my welcome
0:54:34 > 0:54:37to you...to visit my own country.
0:54:41 > 0:54:46You are the best-travelled of any Dalai Lama in history
0:54:46 > 0:54:50and you have a very hectic schedule.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53Why do you think it's important to travel?
0:54:53 > 0:54:58From my childhood, I always have curiosity
0:54:58 > 0:55:03or desire to know more about different people, different culture,
0:55:03 > 0:55:07and as a Buddhist monk I also have a great interest
0:55:07 > 0:55:11to learn more about different religious traditions.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14You lead this very hectic, frenetic life.
0:55:14 > 0:55:19How do you keep in good condition? Do you have a health regime?
0:55:20 > 0:55:27I think firstly my parent gives me this, I think, quite good body.
0:55:28 > 0:55:34Except these two days, there is some problem with my eye, eyelid, little problem.
0:55:34 > 0:55:39I've never seen you with your glasses off before.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43- Really?- I've never seen you with your glasses off.
0:55:43 > 0:55:48Do I seem very small? Am I bit blurred?
0:55:48 > 0:55:50But you are...
0:55:50 > 0:55:54My daily life... My daily routine...
0:55:56 > 0:55:59I'm usually quite, what can I say...
0:55:59 > 0:56:01stable...
0:56:01 > 0:56:07disciplined - breakfast, lunch, no dinner,
0:56:07 > 0:56:10as a monk, Buddhist monk, but evening tea,
0:56:12 > 0:56:13..and sleep.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16Usually, I have a quite fixed...
0:56:18 > 0:56:22Except when I travel at different places, especially America.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25Then...
0:56:25 > 0:56:26I...more than...
0:56:26 > 0:56:30Sometimes more than 12 hours... differences.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33So now, for example, now I...
0:56:33 > 0:56:36One week ago, I return from United States.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38My sleep...
0:56:38 > 0:56:44not much problem, but my stomach still, American time.
0:56:44 > 0:56:46Still!
0:56:47 > 0:56:52Usually I...bath, toilet, usually morning,
0:56:52 > 0:56:56but nowadays it's the evening, because of American time.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59That's very tricky!
0:57:01 > 0:57:04I know you're very busy. Thank you very much.
0:57:04 > 0:57:10- Thank you.- There's lots more I want to talk about, but you've got to talk to lots of other people.
0:57:13 > 0:57:20The next day, the Dalai Lama is off on his travels again and the crowds are out to catch a glimpse of him.
0:57:23 > 0:57:28He may see himself as "a simple monk", but his people, for whom life is religion,
0:57:28 > 0:57:32see him as nothing less than the God King.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36They may not want to share him with the world, but they pay him respect
0:57:36 > 0:57:42as he sets off once more on his self-imposed mission to keep a candle burning for Tibet.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51It's time for me to move on as well.
0:57:51 > 0:57:57Up to Ladakh, the "land of passes", where the mountains take over the landscape.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04A field of ancient stupas stand like melting snowmen,
0:58:04 > 0:58:09a reminder of the days of prosperity when the Silk Route came through here,
0:58:09 > 0:58:12carrying other travellers on their way to the East.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23Next time, I micro-light up to the mountains,
0:58:23 > 0:58:29watch Ghurkhas being recruited, leave ridiculous tips for the waitresses,
0:58:29 > 0:58:33test myself on the Annapurna Trail...
0:58:36 > 0:58:40..see the temples and funeral pyres of Kathmandu,
0:58:40 > 0:58:43gamble with the licence-payers' money...
0:58:45 > 0:58:47..meet the highest nuns in the world...
0:58:49 > 0:58:52..and take Sunday lunch at Everest.
0:58:52 > 0:58:54Himalaya...high adventure!